FG Inaugurates Sub-c’ttee on Sanitation, Hygiene

Folalumi Alaran in Abuja

The federal government has inaugurated a 23-man sub-committee to consolidate fragmented policies into a comprehensive document, covering all aspects of Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Nigeria.

Director of Water Supply and Support Services, Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, and the national chairman WASH policy development committee, Nicolas Madu, who spoke in Abuja, said the decision was made to elevate sanitation and hygiene to the same importance as water supply.

He also said the decision to formulate a comprehensive national wash policy was prompted by the combined insight of the minister of water resources and sanitation and the minister of environment, leading to the establishment of a technical committee for policy review and development.

Madu added that sanitation sub-committee will have additional time and resources to discuss the issues thoroughly and provide well-informed advice to the main committee.

Madu said the members of the sub-committee were seasoned professionals and bureaucrats selected from across the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), states as well as  professional organisations.

 “It comprises 42 members from various government ministries, civil societies, and donor agencies. This diverse composition aims to ensure that the perspectives of all stakeholders in the WASH domain are considered in the development of policy documents.

“We have drawn people from the regular government ministries, from civil societies, from donor agencies, and we have these 42. We have ensured that everybody requires to be on the seat on the table discussing WASH is reflected in that committee.

“The reason is that we want any documents so developed to aggregate all the aspirations of participants or stakeholders in the Wash family.

“We have had pockets of policies not aggregating the entire WASH. Now, the idea of this committee is to develop one very well thought-out document policy document that will aggregate all the shades of WASH so we can have everything under one umbrella,” he said.

Speaking through its Head of Advocacy, Policy, and Communications, Kolawole Banwo, WaterAid emphasised the critical role of water, sanitation, and hygiene in Nigeria’s development.

Banwo, while highlighting the economic impact of water said without proper WASH infrastructure, the disease burden will increase, children will fall sick while economic resources will be diverted to curative medicine.

 He said the importance of WASH for public health cannot be overemphasised citing the prevention of diseases like COVID-19 and Ebola.

Banwo said there was the need to move beyond mere promises of water supply and consider sanitation and hygiene components. He highlights the specific challenges, such as the need for toilets designed for women’s menstrual hygiene and facilities accommodating people with disabilities.

The sub-committee members include: The ministers of health; environment; Agriculture and Rural Development; Transport, Works and Housing; humanitarian affairs, disaster management, and social development, as well as their respective permanent secretaries.